A Kayak Hombre Christmas

               It is Christmas and I am alone. I am never really alone because I am a father and the lives of my children touch me wherever I go. This year has been a year of milestones for me. The biggest has been the graduations of my daughters from college. It took us 25 years to reach that marker but we did it. My oldest got her master’s degree just last Saturday.

               More importantly, both my girls are working. The economy is improving but it is still a tough place to find a good-paying job. They are making the world a better place so I no longer have to do it on my own. Thank God! That is a great load off my shoulders.

               And I am working. I am nearly penniless but I have reliable transportation, I am in good health and I have a nice apartment a block from the Ohio River with a nice desk from which to write. I haven't had a desk since I rented out my house four years ago. Life is good!

               I also passed a milestone in my career. With this current contract, I have successfully navigated the Great Recession and transitioned from cellular networks based on the T-1 Carrier system to an IP-based cellular network.

               I end this year looking forward to a new one with lots of possibilities. This year, my life is like a good tango and a good tango is always full of possibilities.

               It wasn’t easy getting here. I had to make a tough decision on where I would go as my last contract ended. I am thankful that I at least had choices to make. I had no choice in leaving Durango and that was extremely hard. It broke my heart to find such a wonderful place and not be able to stay. Not so with Fargo. Wisconsin was a difficult place to leave as well but I could not stay.

               I think I can stay here, though, in Wheeling, West Virginia. Maybe I won’t be in Wheeling but I’m certain I can find work in the Pittsburgh area because it is a big city and the economy here is booming. There are rivers here, great rivers with lots of character, and there is lots of tango.

               Lots of tango. Yes, that is very important. As I look back on the last four years as I worked my way around the country, I realize that in each tango community that I was a part of, there were women there who needed me as a dance partner. It is nice to be needed. In fact, being needed is a primary ingredient in the soup of life. It adds flavor; without it there is just water with stuff floating around in it.

               The best dances are with people you enjoy dancing with who also enjoy dancing with you. There is definitely the possibility for some of that for me here in Pittsburgh. Also, I’m not too far from Cleveland or Washington, D.C., and tango adventures are on my agenda for the coming year.

               River running is also on the menu. The Potomac River near Cumberland, Maryland, has enormous possibilities as a place to meet my youngest daughter for some canoe camping trips. I have a funny little boat called the Spanish Fly. It is a C-1, which means it is a one-person canoe but it is more like a whitewater playboat. Lately I have been experiencing a strong urge to take it out on the river. I had thought I was too old for this kind of stuff but I think that my hiking excursions to Ohiopyle State Park, home of the famous Youghigheny River, has rekindled my desire to challenge the whitewater rapids once more.

               Finally, I have been given the gift of writing another book called The Tango Doctor. It will be my third book and a chance to show readers that I can give them something good to sit down with for a whole weekend and escape into another world, a world that I created. 

               Writing a book is a funny thing. Once you realize that you have enough material to put together a whole story and start writing, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

                Okay, I am ready to set my goals for the new year.

               #1 on the list are more camping trips with my daughters. Next, I’ve got to prepare my body for a ride through the cold rapids without a boat. I have grown fat these last four years and I am in no shape to bail out and take a swim in a strong current full of rocks and who knows what. Thirdly, I will dance some awesome tango with the wonderful women I’ve met in Pittsburgh.

               This will be the year I finally get my Cisco router certification. And finally, I will finish my book, The Tango Doctor.

               There you have it, a Kayak Hombre Christmas. I am alone but full of the joy of the season. I am thankful for all have, missing all that I have left behind and looking forward to all that lies ahead.

Peace, Love and Tango

the Kayak Hombre